Drawing Strings
by Kowaidesu
Summary: By chance, or with a pick of a flower, two unlikely creatures have sought each other for comfort. They don't understand how or why, but they both know, deep within themselves, that they need each other in order to survive. {Zuma x Marshall}
1. Together Forever, and Ever

_He wasn't always **the** one. I never even thought that he and I would end up together like this, because it simply hadn't come to my mind. We hardly have anything in common, but despite that, I feel resemble in a way. I had, **have** this feeling that I **did** want him. That I **did** need him, and he needed me._

 _I didn't take kindly to the idea at first, because I was afraid. It was a new feeling, especially towards him, and I didn't want to be different from all the others. I was afraid of what they would have said if I had told them, which would only make me feel worse; I couldn't handle being left out. But the feeling overwhelmed me, so much that it had given me the courage to put the others' views' behind me, and to tell **him** how I feel._

 _Of course, he was just as confused as I was, but he too, felt the strong urge that we belongs together. We didn't quite understand the feeling, but somehow, someway, we thought of us not being together, could emit some sort of black hole, destroying the earth along with all of us on it, was left in our minds._

 _The thought's probably not true, but it felt that way. It still does. I wanted him. He wanted me._

 _I love him, and he loves me._

 **•A Few Years Before•**

 _"Marshall, use your ladder!" Ryder ordered, pointing towards the Dalmatians fire truck, "Quickly!"_

 _The pup immediately sprung into action, scrambling over to his truck. He was surprisingly able to keep his balance while hopping onto it. But there was no time to think about that. "Ruff! Ladder!" He hoped, as he jumped onto the moving structure._

 _He was shortly raised to the top of the city hall, where he met up with a young woman who was dangling off the edge. Getting onto the building, Marshall rushed over to her, "Step onto the ladder, Ma'am, and I'll have you down in a jiffy!"_

 _She looked at the dally, he eyes showing not a hint of fear. There was no emotion detected from her. She could feel her arms tending and her hands loosing their grip, but she didn't oblige to Marshall's command._

 _"M-ma'am?" The dally asked with a tilt of his head. He tried to help the woman up to the best of his ability, and as he saw her fingers slipping off the side, he felt fear build its way into his threat, "Ma'am! It'll be okay." He tried speaking wig a soothing tone, however, his voice cracked in between his words, "If you step onto the ladder, you'll be brought to safety!"_

 _The woman moved not an inch, apart from her shaking head, and the closing of her eyelids. Her breathing softened, and as she she looked back at the pup, he noticed her eyes were sparkling with tears. He heard her whisper in a tone he couldn't recognize, "It's never safe here," before let go._

 _At that moment, the pups instincts took in, and he was forced to run to the edge and just barely grab hold of the woman's sleeve with his teeth. He was pulled closer to the edge where his front toes dangled off the side._

 _The weight of the woman was astronomical to the small pup, although she was didn't look heavy. Despite this, Marshall somehow managed to make a stand._

 _"Marshall," he could hear the woman whisper from beneath him, "let go of me,"_

 _The pup did no such thing. The thought of dropping this woman never came across his mind. His eyes scanned from the woman, towards the crowd below them. Seeing Ryder, the shock in the boys face, he didn't want to disappoint him._

 _"Let me go!" Screeched the woman, and a hand was shortly collided with the tops of Marshall's forehead. The pain became too unbearable too quickly, which inevitably prevented the pup from holding into the woman for any longer, despite his drastic attempts to catching her again._

 _The moment he let go, he felt his heart sink, farther than it had ever gone before, and despite the pain in his forehead, he looked down, and watched as the woman fell towards the ground. The crowd below him stood with their hands to their mouths, and weren't quick enough to react._

 _The woman hit the ground, becoming motionless._

 _As time seemed to stop altogether, Marshall couldn't keep his eyes off of the woman. He let her go. He could've save her, but **he let her go**. He would have to live with that._

 _He failed._

* * *

"Marshall!" The dally was snapped out for the riveting memory, and his attention was brought towards a young boy, kneeling beside him. The pups eyes may stripped of emotion as he stared at the near-eleven-year-old, "Are you doing okay?"

Marshall slowly turned away and stared ahead of him. His eyes seemed to be distant as compared to the rest of him, as if he went really where he was at that moment.

"I let her go Ryder," the Dalmatian eventually managed, still turned away from the boy, "I could've save her, but I let her go." He shook his head, and he could feel his eyes burning.

The pup felt a hand stroke down the back his neck, and heard the shuffling of feet on the fallen leaves as Ryder sat down. "You can't blame yourself for that. That's not on you."

"But it is, Ryder," Marshall persisted. He turned to the boy, liquid crystals slowly falling down his cheeks, "I dropped her because I couldn't hold onto her. Her death is my fault." He whimpered, turning away again.

"Stop thinks like that Marsh," Ryder stated, wrapping the pup in a warm embrace, "You did your best. You did your job."

"Not a very good job of~

"Marshall! Stop it, please," begged the boy, "I don't want you blaming yourself for any of this!"

For the moment, Marshall remained silent. He lowered his head and watched as his tears flooded towards the ground below him.

* * *

 _Well, there you have it! My very first story here :D It may not be very good, but I enjoyed writing it. Hope you all liked it! ~Kowaidesu_


	2. Don't You Remember?

"Marshall," began the bijou Cockapoo, standing a few feet behind the Dalmatian. It appeared that there wasn't a single emotion that was emphasized on the pups face. His eyes lingered in a long, hypnotic gaze, as if he were staring at something that none of the others could see. "We're all worried about you," Skye sustained, taking a step toward the male, who stood as still as a stone.

No words has escaped his muzzle, although, what seemed to be the "words" that escaped him, had come from the changing in the appearance of his eyes, which widened only slightly. Skye saw this, and with each step taken, he words protruded him, "We want the old Marshall back. The one we love and enjoy being around."

The Dalmatians legs were noticeably shaking, and he turned his head towards the ground. Seeing this taking effect, the Cockapoo smiled at the result, "Marshall, I know you're still in there. You just have to come out."

Marshall's eyes piqued as he forced them shut. He started to walk away from the scene, only for Skye to follow closely behind him. His emotions seemed to have only been flooding back to him, and as he continued to push forward, the stinging in his eyes only seemed to intensify. "Where are you going now?" He heard Skye ask, but he didn't answer her. He hadn't the answer for many questions anymore. He felt lost; it was unlike any feeling that he has encountered before.

"Why don't you answer me?" Skye persisted, her voice sounding more strained.

The silence that the Dally had given her, must have aggravated the female, causing her to become upset as well, although, in an entirely different aspect than that of the Dalmatian. Marshall's emotionless eyes scanned across the landscape before him. He saw a tree, with its yellow and red leaves dancing in the wind. The small swing attached to one of its large branches swung back and forth, looking as if a ghost was on it. The presence of the Cockapoo still lingered close by, yet, Marshall took no note of it.

He took the picture into the back of his mind, and turned around. Walking passed Skye, he went towards the location of his pup house. The female pup watched the path of the Dally's direction, and immediately became frustrated. "Don't tell me you're going back to sulking in your pup house," she spurred. "Why don't you just come back to us?" the tone in her voice seemed to drop, "We just want you back Marsh. We miss you/" Marshall continued to walk away, seemingly to not have heard any of what Skye had just said to him.

Coming to the conclusion that following him was becoming futile, Skye stopped in her tracks. She watched Marshall grow further away. "Fine," she began, bitterness in he voice, "Go!" She huffed and with the stomp of her paw, she walked back to the lookout, and went inside.

The Dally's mind had wandered away. He had heard Skye, but had chose to ignore her. She tried to get him to speak throughout the entire week, however, he wouldn't budge. He wasn't set to talk yet, to anyone, Ryder included. Once he got to his fire-red pup house, he stepped inside, and lied on the comfortable floor. His thoughts continued to flow by in a continuous loop of film that never seemed to end. He watched the, over and over again, causing him to grow weary and ill=like

By the time she had arrived to the group of males, all huddled around the Pup Pup Boogie game, Skye's face had turned a complete shade of red. One of the males, who was standing on the sideline, watching the game proceed from there, saw this, and with a tilt of his head, he asked the female, "Skye? You alright?"

She stared at him, a slight smile curling over her muzzle, "I'm fine Rocky. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're all red," he added, his head still tilted towards the side

Hearing this, the female drastically shook her head in an attempt to make the redness dissipate, but instead, she grew dizzy. As the room spun around her, she said, "Oh. I was talking with Marshall just now."

"Did he talk back to you?" asked the mix, ears dropping slightly.

After the dizziness had drifted away from her completely, she glared at Rocky, "What do you think?" She saw the disappointment in the mix's eyes, yet she added, "It's like he's a totally different pup now."

'He'll come back," said another voice, causing the two to turn their head. Their eyes were met with a chocolate Labrador, standing in the middle of the controls for their game. "He's no diffewent than the Mawshall we knew just a week ago."

"I've tried every single day to get him to talk to me, but he won't listen," Skye said with irritation

Zuma's glare was enough to cut through glass, "He witnessed someone die, Skye. We would all be acting the same way he cuwwently is."

"Death is inevitable. It's bound to happen anyway," explained the Cockapoo with the nod of her head.

Each pair of eyes that were currently in the room were now staring at the two pups in converse. The music from the game lingered in the background, with the sounds of error being heard, due to the act the no one was hitting the correct dance moves.

"So you'we twying to tell me that you _wouldn't_ be acting that way? You wouldn't be scawwed?" Zuma initiated, leaning his body forward. "No one should see what he has seen," he shook his head, and reverted back to his normal stance, "And it doesn't mattew what you have to say. If we wewe in Mawshall's position, we would be doing the same exact thing!"

"I didn't say that, Zum," Skye began. She opened muzzle as if to say more, but was cut off by the Labrador.

"I don't want to heaw it Slye," he stated, stepping away from the game. "You have no wight to say that he's diffewent. I won't allow it!" He swiftly turned away from the group of pups and walked out of the tower doors.

Skye looked at the others, confusion in her eyes, "What was that about?"

* * *

 **In response to Atlas FF. Although I appreciate your going out of your way to wanting to help me with proofreading, I would like to politely decline from this offer. I know English. I have learned enough of it to know what I'm doing.**

 **I have nothing rude to say, but I have a few simple questions for the Guest. Tell me, how many people on this site speak Japanese? . . . I can assure you, it isn't many. A handful maybe, but very few. Now, let me ask you this; How many people on this site speak English? It changes right? The proportion of English readers (and writers) outweighs that of Japanese one 10 to 1. Now, I chose to write in English because that is the language of most of this sites readers. I don't know about you, but I haven't seen many stories in Japanese.**


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